The requests for a guide to downloading movies via torrent have multiplied, and beyond technical difficulties or legal warnings, we are definitely in a position to develop it. The goal is that someone with no previous experience in the BitTorrent universe can install a compatible client, locate the desired content, and start their download without any problems, but we will also explore secondary details that will help improve performance or solve issues.
Before We Continue…
Obviously, a title like the one we used above can raise certain doubts. If we visit portals like TorrentFreak that cover the day-to-day of the BitTorrent universe, it's easy to see that the battle with copyright hawks is as active as ever. However, we must not lose sight of a fundamental detail: The BitTorrent protocol is not illegal, and neither are BitTorrent clients. Legal use cases abound: Linux distro creators ask users to download images via torrent to save bandwidth. Entire audiovisual projects have relied on the BitTorrent network for distribution, and still do today.
And when it comes to downloading movies via torrent, no one can deny that there is a lot of material in the public domain. To write a guide we need to choose a movie, and the winner is "Plan 9 from Outer Space" by Ed Wood, considered the "best-worst movie" ever made. Both Wikipedia and YouTube offer it without restrictions (it has been in the public domain for over 30 years), so obtaining a copy via BitTorrent will not cause problems. Are you ready?
Learn to Download Movies via Torrent
Downloading movies (or by extension, anything else) via torrent has four essential requirements:
- A stable Internet connection. Of course, speed is always welcome, but prioritizing stability is the correct strategy in BitTorrent downloads.
- A compatible and up-to-date BitTorrent client. The Web offers dozens, but here we lean towards qBitTorrent, since it is free, open source, has no ads, and supports the Spanish language.
- A "source" in the form of a Magnet link or a .torrent file. The quintessential place to obtain these sources is a BitTorrent index like The Pirate Bay, but its use is not mandatory. If someone sent you a .torrent file by email, it would work the same.
- Enough disk space to receive the content. BitTorrent clients usually "reserve" the necessary space when starting the download; don't ignore this.
Assuming your connection is robust, the first step is to visit the official qBitTorrent page and download a copy of its client. Don't accept imitations here, and don't use external mirrors. The page has a link to FossHub for its installers, and two official mirrors to SourceForge. Personally, I recommend the 64-bit edition, although on humbler systems it's not a bad idea to use the 32-bit build.
The factory options during qBitTorrent installation are sufficient, just make sure to choose "Spanish (International)" as the language at the beginning. The interface will be similar to what the image below shows, but you can close qBitTorrent for now; we'll come back to it later.
The next step is to obtain a source to download the aforementioned "Plan 9 from Outer Space", either via Magnet link or .torrent file. The structure of both is different, but their essential function is the same, and we are not obliged to "prefer" one over the other. Since it's a public domain movie, "Plan 9" is available on an index like LegitTorrents, which is dedicated to offering torrents free of legal conflicts, but other indexes surely have additional copies of the movie registered. Use the search box, click on the movie, and then click on the .torrent file or the Magnet link. Depending on the type of source, two things can happen:
- If it's a Magnet link, the browser should recommend automatically opening qBitTorrent.
- In the case of .torrent files, the browser may suggest "Open with qBitTorrent", or save it to the computer as a regular file. Then all you have to do is double-click that file so that qBitTorrent opens it on its own.
If everything goes well, qBitTorrent will open and ask you to confirm the destination of the download. The factory configuration for the client is to use one of the download folders available on the system, but you can send the file wherever you want, as long as there is enough space. Press OK... and wait.
Downloading Movies via Torrent: Possible Problems and Solutions
If you've reached this point, I imagine we could say "Congratulations, you're downloading your first torrent!", but it's just the tip of the iceberg. The amount of questions to resolve is simply gigantic, and I think we should start with the most obvious one:
"The download is slow"
Yes, even with an optimal connection and a well-configured client, it's likely that this will happen. Torrent downloads don't behave the same way as a direct download. In many cases, you have to wait several minutes for the download to reach its optimal performance, and the maximum speed can fluctuate greatly.The number one rule for downloading torrents faster is to use those with a large number of seeds, i.e., users sharing 100 percent of the content. It's also useful to have peers (also known as leeches). Those users may not have a complete copy, but they can share parts of the download that you are missing. Now, the rule is not perfect by any means. More than once you'll see a download with only one or two seeds, but they are very strong seeds in terms of bandwidth, and you can download from them without headaches.
The number two rule is the one that most intimidates the beginner user: opening ports. Modern routers and BitTorrent clients should be able to "negotiate" any special requirement via UPnP, but we know from experience that this doesn't always happen. Port forwarding involves changing the IP address of the computer and entering the modem/router configuration. Click here if you want to know how to configure a router to open ports.
In third place, remember that the connectivity provider may apply "throttling" to users it considers heavy consumers. If you suspect this, try the following: In qBitTorrent, go to Tools > Options > BitTorrent, and in the Privacy section, uncheck the first three boxes, change the encryption mode to "Require encryption", and enable anonymous mode.
"BitTorrent kills the connection / freezes the router"
It's exactly the opposite of the speed problem. Sometimes BitTorrent works too well, and the large number of connections it opens per download can saturate a modest router, or ruin background browsing. Here I could invite you into a maze of advanced configurations to specify a limit on outgoing connections and other similar parameters, but the easiest way to solve it is to set a hard limit on download and upload.How is this achieved? In qBitTorrent it's very easy: Click on the green arrow at the bottom of the interface, and for the download section enter a value in kilobytes per second that is lower than your maximum download speed. For example, an ideal 20 megabit per second link equals 2560 kilobytes per second. Enter "1500", and qBitTorrent will never download faster than that. The same goes for upload: A 2 megabit link is 256 kilobytes, but assigning 16 or 32 kilobytes per second will be enough.
"The index returns multiple results. Which one do I choose?"
Another classic inconvenience. The popularity of certain content can cause a saturation of results in the BitTorrent index, and doubts always arise about which one to choose. As we mentioned above, you should prioritize the largest number of seeds, but indexes also implement "reputation" systems that highlight results using stars, skulls, or other icons. At the same time, don't hesitate to read the comments on each torrent. If there is something strange about that download, other users will let you know.
Conclusion
A little science, a little art. I think it's a good way to summarize the process of downloading movies via torrent. Recognizing fake links, detecting performance issues, and adjusting the client will become second nature as you gain experience. If you still have doubts, remember that there is a lot of safe content on BitTorrent to download. Linux distros are an excellent example, and nothing prevents you from experimenting with them before moving on to other types of material. Never stop testing, and good luck!
